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Nielsen to Receive Distinguished Service Award at Homecoming

Idaho State University
September 21, 2010

Head Track and Field Coach Dave Nielsen is receiving the award based on his exceptional loyalty to ISU

POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State Head Track and Field Coach Dave Nielsen will be presented with the Idaho State University Distinguished Service award during halftime of Saturday’s Homecoming game.

The Distinguished Service award recognizes staff members who have shown exceptional loyalty to the university over an extended period of employment. Nominations are solicited from all areas of the university and are reviewed by the Standing Awards Committee annually. Nominees for the award must meet three contingencies: extended employment at Idaho State University, considerable loyalty to the university and service above and beyond the call of duty or position description. The committee unanimously supported Nielsen for this year’s recognition.

For 27 years Nielsen has been the head track and field coach and has been a major innovator for the sport. In 1973, Nielsen and Tom Ecker introduced the somersault long jump technique. In response to a coaches’ association effort to better promote track and field, Nielsen originated the Team Power Ranking in 1994. The Team Power Ranking system is a method of scoring and ranking collegiate teams as well as providing a collegiate based scoring table for each event contested at the NCAA Championship. However, his greatest legacy may be what he has done for female track and field athletes.

Beginning in 1993, Nielsen provided competitive opportunities for women in the hammer, pole vault and weight throw long before they were collegiate events. Former Olympic champion and World Record holder in the pole vault, Stacy Dragila was one of his first pupils. Dragila won the gold medal in the inaugural women’s pole vault event at the 2000 Summer Olympics and her best vault, 4.83 meters was significantly higher than any of the other female pole vaulters of her generation.

Nielsen also coached former Idaho State high jumper and Olympian Amber Welty to first, second, third and fourth-place finishes at the NCAA Championships in four different appearances making her Idaho State’s first four-time All-American athlete and Idaho State’s first female NCAA Division I National Champion. Welty also became the ISU’s first female track and field Olympian when she competed as a member of the 1992 USA Olympic team in Barcelona, Spain. One of his first female weight throw athletes, Maureen Griffin still holds the ISU record in the weight and hammer throws. Nielsen also served as a chair on the USATF Women’s Pole Vault Development Committee from 1998-2006.

Nielsen has been published in professional journals and has served on NCAA and USTFCCCA track and field committees. Twenty of his athletes have garnered All-American honors, including 11 in the last four years. He has led 45 athletes to the NCAA Championships and 163 to Big Sky Conference titles. He has also had 391 athletes earn All-Big Sky Conference honors. The Idaho State track and field teams have been crowned conference champions four times since 1997.

A former pole vaulter himself, Nielsen attended the University of Iowa where he earned All-American status and became a Big Ten Champion. He also competed at the 1976 Olympic Trials. He enrolled in graduate school at Idaho State and graduated with his MPE degree in 1981. He took his first full-time coaching job at the University of Wisconsin in 1982 as the women’s assistant coach before returning to ISU to be the head women’s coach in 1983. He took over both men and women’s track and field programs in 1985. Nielsen is the proud parent of three sons: Hans (25), Thor (24) and Sven (20). He married his wife Michelle on Jan. 10, 2009.

Unbelievably wonderful man, coach and sports scientist. Congrats Dave!! Bubba

http://www.idahostatejournal.com/sports ... 03286.html


Nielson vaults to successful career with Bengals track

Posted: Friday, December 17, 2010 12:04 am
Commentary by Greg Eichelberger | 0 comments

A recent message I received read (and I’m paraphrasing somewhat), “Wanted, a few good men and women to officiate during the upcoming Idaho State University track and field season. No experience necessary. Will train. Dave Nielson.”
Intrigued, I decided to find out a little more about not only the missive, but the person behind it. A call or two later put me in touch with the author — and did he have a story to tell.
Despite this, though, his first concern was bringing in quality referees to watch over various events at Bengals’ track and field competitions. After all, someone has to keep an eye on hammer and discus tossers to make sure they do not step over the lines.
“We’ve had some really good officials in the past,” he said, “But most of them are now retired or pushing up the daisies. There will be training and mentoring available, as well as an open book test for certification. It’s all pretty easy and not too time-consuming.”
He also added that anyone interested should contact him at (208) 406-9231 or E-mail nieldave@isu.edu.
Promising his plea would be duly noted in our publication, I then wanted to know a little about the man who needs this assistance. It turns out that Mr. Nielson has a fairly interesting yarn to spin himself.
He’s been the men’s and women’s track and field coach for the past 28 years and is known for his pioneering work in the pole vault. He has also mentored numerous athletes over the years, however he is best known for coaching Stacy Dragila to Olympic Gold in the 2000 Sydney, Australia Summer Olympics.
In his tenure, he has produced 11 Academic All-Americans, 17 Big Sky Scholar Athletes, 20 All-Americans, 49 NCAA qualifiers, 140 Big Sky champions, 351 All-Big Sky athletes and 916 Academic All-Big Sky honorees.
These numbers can become mind-boggling after a while, but for those readers who enjoy such statistics, here’s a few more: Nielson has been the Big Sky’s coach of the year three times (1997, 1998 and 2005) and the Big Sky’s Indoor Coach of the Year in 2006.
I’m not quite sure why there is a a regular coach of the year and an indoor coach of the year, but I suppose such thinking is far above my pay grade.
Throughout his career, Nielson has shared his knowledge of the vault with the track and field community, producing four DVDs: “Pole Vault Fundamentals and Techniques,” “Effective Practice Drills for the Pole Vault,” “Gymnastics Training for the Pole Vault,” and “Women’s Pole Vault featuring Stacy Dragila.” He has also published many articles on various aspects of the sport.
A world class pole vaulter at the University of Iowa, Nielson saw a photograph of Holt Arena in late 1979 and thought it would be a nice place to train for the upcoming Olympic Games in Moscow,
“Unfortunately, after I began training for a few months, Pres. Jimmy Carter canceled America’s participation in those games (due to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan),” he said. “I needed a job after graduation, so I decided to apply at Idaho State. I loved the community, so it was not really a difficult solution.”
After nearly three decades of coaching, he is still enthusiastic about his team each season. This upcoming campaign is no exception.
“Our women’s squad should be able to compete fairly well in 2011,” he said. “But the men’s team lacks the depth necessary to provide a conference championship. Still, we have two high-quality pole vaulters in Sam Pearson and Mike Arnold, both of whom have reached 17.7 3/4 feet.”
Nielson is also proud of the fact that Holt Arena will host the Big Sky championships in late February.
Born in Gothenburg, Sweden, Nielson was adopted by a loving family in Iowa and — for 57 years — had no knowledge of his birth mother until a few months ago. Since then, he has been in constant communication with her.
To show how much they love and respect him, members of his track and field team have gotten together and gifted him and his wife a trip to Sweden to see her. They leave on Christmas Day.
“People might say I’ve accomplished quite a lot in my life, but this is one of the biggest thrills of all,” he said. “I’m on Cloud Nine right now.”

I'm very happy for him.